Mystical Photography - DIY

Arjan Wilmsen December 9, 2024

Yesterday I went out in nature here at home strapped with my Nikon D500 and the 17-55mm F2.8. Attached to that an old UV lens. I don’t really use UV lenses, but why did I do so yesterday you might ask? Well… I smeared some Vaseline on the lens, to create some interesting effect.

Call it mist, fog, blur, or whatever you like.. but it does add a creative effect to your shots. It makes you hunt and look for compositions a little bit differently. I like it. Here are some results. It was cold and close to sunset, so the cold/dark tones really match the way the vibes of this place were.

The more Vaseline you add to the UV filter, the crazier the results can get. You can create these really interesting warped images like this one below.

Stakken - Kvaløysletta, Tromsø, Norway.

Arjan Wilmsen October 20, 2024

Stakken

At Stakken, south of Kvaløysletta, stands a row of boathouses, eleven in all, most of them built using old, traditional building techniques, with turfed roofs. Behind the row of boathouses lie several buildings big and small – a “båtskott” (boat shed), smithy, wooden shack, fishing hut and toilet.

**Me, posing in front of the boathouses at “Stakken”**

Most of the land is owned by Arctandria, Tromsø Kystlag (founded in 1979). The company also owns two of the boathouses and the buildings behind, and the site has been to a great extent built on a voluntary basis. The rest of the boathouses are privately owned, mostly by members of Arctandria.

In the boathouses are housed old and new Nordland (wooden) boats of different sizes – the largest is the fembøring (five-man boat) Salarøy, which is owned by the Salarøy foundation and is housed in the large boathouse. In its establishment phase at Stakken, the Arctandria association has set up its own buildings, but its main aim is to preserve the coastal culture by restoring old boats, building new ones using traditional principles and holding a variety of courses in restoration, smithcraft, sweeping, etc., as well as 4-H.

The buildings were built according to old designs and building techniques, mostly during the 1980s and 1990s. In many cases there are new materials as well as the re-use of old building materials, which has been the custom along the coast of North Norway for hundreds of years.

The Highlands, Iceland

Arjan Wilmsen September 13, 2024

Here’s a few snaps of my most recent trip to Iceland in August. I was out and about with a group of friends in the beautiful Highlands.

There’s more posts on my Instagram and Facebook page.
Thanks for checking these shots out!

Eiði - The Faroe Islands

Arjan Wilmsen August 5, 2024

I stayed a couple of days in the village of Eiði, The Faroe Islands earlier in July. I was working on a photography project for a local restaurant in the next town, called Ljósa. I made this little video for the restaurant, check it out here.

In between shooting at the restaurant I had some time for a little stroll or two through Eiði and look at the town in a bit of a different way. Not the typical tourist way, but more in a street and urban photography kind of way.

I’ve visited the Faroe Islands about 7 times now, and after every visit I start to get more and more into shooting street/urban kind of style here. The Faroe Islands are just perfect for that!

Workshop in "Het Leudal" // The last colors of Autumn

Arjan Wilmsen November 23, 2023

Today I gave another photography workshop in my local nature reserve. “Het Leudal” for two nice guys from Belgium. My clients were really into learning how to find new compositions, look for leading lines, framing, and just looking and experiencing a forest (in this case) for photography. Also very much to just slow down and enjoy nature ofcourse.

We did walk about 9km through the area and encountered a lot of nice places. Some Leudal classics, and beautiful random encounters. Some interesting conversations about photography accompanied us during our walks. We all had a great day. Thank you for joining me today guys, and to you: Thanks for checking out this blogpost. Below is a selection of photographs from today.